rajendra gangani-ace kathak dancer

[padmanabha]

Usually the Kathak dancers use Bhakti inspired poetry which is intensely emotional, declaring love for God in personal terms. Today themes are no longer confined to the myths and legends. “The wider repertoire includes even contemporary subjects like terrorism. It is my forthcoming project” said Rajendra Gnagani the popular Kathak artiste.
He belongs to a family of traditional Kathak dancers. He was trained by his fathe Pandit Kundanlal Gangani. “The aim of the kathak is to instruct the indigenous population in the knowledge of Gods and myths. Now I use this medium to propagate peace” he said.
Krishna has been the chief subject of music and dance. His mischievous audacity evoked delight and hence lent itself admirably to presentation in dance form. He constantly played ticks-organized raiding butter, and milk and dallied with milkmaids in the glades of vrindavan on the banks of Yamuna. “All these are excellent subjects for dance with ample scope for abhinaya and improvisation. We normally take a line or two –like stealing butter for instance and improvise on it with the aid of BGM” he said and continued,

“The Jaipur gharana developed under the patronage of the Rajput rulers of Rajastahan and has a strong religious flavor. And hence it was never performed in palace courts. This gharana always chose the compositions of Meera. Now we have started essaying thoss eof Haridas, Surdas, Swati Tirunal and Vidyapathi.”

Gangani played tukra short pieces that lasted to six or seven bars of the basic time scale-and towards the end he one of the kathak positions for one bar the essential part is the pirouette. His tatkar (foot work) displayed his technical virtuosity and it was a dance of liquid movement.
Gangani ha sperformed all over the world. His solo was performed at Queen Elizabeth HALL London. During his visit to Paris and Scandinavian countries his choreography harmonizing kathak with Flamingo style was staged. He is an accomplished Tabala artiste, proficient in harmonim pakhawaj and a vocalist. No wonder his dance is known for its rhythmic quality. Now he is assoiated with the National Institute of Dance Kathak Kendra New Delhi.